Charts Don't Lie: December 15

Weekly review of the Hip-Hop and R&B sales/charts.

This segment of Charts Don't Lie is relatively subdued, as we have no big new entries to speak of just yet. While Childish Gambino's new album, Because The Internet, dropped last week, it has yet to start charting although it is expected to sell a pretty respectable amount, especially considering it's double the amount of his last release, Camp. Gambino is projected to move 80-90k while Camp only did 52k, so that's definitely a good look for Glassnote Records and Gambino. Glassnote Records founder, Daniel Glass, recently explained that the reason he was able to double the sales was because of help from Spotify. That just goes to show that record labels have to learn to embrace online streaming. Another upcoming charter will be R. Kelly with Black Panties, which is projected to move 90-100k. That's good enough to land him within the top 5 of the Billboard 200, and it's actually a step up from his last release Write Me Back, which only did 68k opening week.

Now we can't conclude this without mentioning Beyonce's self-titled album which dropped at midnight on December 13th, online only. The album isn't ready to chart just yet (we'll find out where it ranks in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 on Wednesday December 18th), however, it made an impressive debut on iTunes alone. Industry sources say that the LP was bought 80,000 times within the first three hours, so over the course of a week, this number could rise up enormously. This is an impressive enough feat if only for the fact that no one even saw it coming, and she had to shoot 17 music videos for it-- along with all the features, producers, etc., it's a miracle no one talked. It's definitely a good marketing strategy, for those celebrities big enough to pull it off (aka Beyonce), as her fans have been fiending for new music from her for quite some time. Out of nowhere, she provides it, and since there are no leaks on the web, the fans instantly have to cop it. Bey's last studio album 4, moved 310,000 copies within opening week-- so if Bey did 80k in three hours, we imagine she'll far surpass the numbers 4 did. Check back next week to find out.

1) Eminem— The Marshall Mathers LP 2: Eminem’s MMLP2 fell off four spots over the course of the past week, from last week’s #2 to #6. After five weeks of charting Em still moved a solid 84,000 units, which was a 58% decrease in sales, bringing his total sales up to 1,407,000.

2) Mary J. Blige— A Mary Christmas: Mary J. Blige’s Christmas album has been out for a while now, but as we approach the actual date, her album rises up the charts and continues to sell more and more. She’s been charting for 8 weeks now, but she finally reached the top 10 of the Billboard 200, jumping from #15 to #10 this week. The singer moved 51,000 copies of A Mary Christmas, with her total sales at 183,000.

3) Drake— Nothing Was The Same: Drizzy had one of his biggest drops on the Billboard 200 yet, with Nothing Was The Same falling from #12 to #23. Drake moved another 28,000 copies and suffered a 63% drop in his sales. The total sales for NWTS are 1,231,000.

4) Justin Timberlake— The 20/20 Experience 2: Justin Timberlake’s album suffered a similar drop as Drake did, from #11 to #24, he finds himself right under Drake. After moving 24,000 units this week (a drop of 72%) JT’s total sales for the second instalment of The 20/20 Experience are now at 657,000.

5) Yo Gotti— I Am: Yo Gotti’s album started off on the right foot, but hasn’t been able to keep the momentum going. This week Gotti fell from #56 to #45 after 3 weeks of charting. He sold over 11,000 copies, with his total sales at 78,000.

6) Macklemore & Ryan Lewis— The Heist: Macklemore and Ryan Lewis suffer a drop from #30 to #68 on the Billboard 200 after an impressive 61 weeks of charting. These two sold another 9,800 units with total sales at 1,182,000.

7) Kanye West—Yeezus: Yeezus had a short run back within the top 50 of the Billboard 200, but has once again fallen, this time to #76.

8) Justin Timberlake— The 20/20 Experience: JT’s first album has far surpassed the second in sales. Timberlake comes in at #78 this week, after 38 weeks of charting, the singer still sold 8,500 copies of his album. His total sales are in the two millions, 2,381,000.

9) 2 Chainz— B.O.A.T.S. II: #METime: Tity 2 Necklace fell from #66 this week to #79. B.O.A.T.S. II has not had as impressive of a run as the first B.O.A.T.S., but nonetheless, Chainz sold 8,500 copies and brought his total sales up to 195,000.

10) Jay Z— Magna Carta Holy Grail: Hov’s newest effort is almost at the end of its run on the Billboard 200, although he did climb up a few spots this week, from #158 to #155. MCHG managed to move 5,300 copies with total album sales of 1,077,000.

Ms. Jhene Aiko suffered quite the drop last week, but this week has been kinder to the L.A. singer, as her Sail Out EP rose up from #128 to #103. Robin Thicke, who has been charting for 19 weeks now, fell from #24 to #57 this week. Kendrick Lamar's good kid, m.A.A.d city moved another 4,600 units, with total sales of 1,104,000. Kendrick comes in at #189 though, from #124 last week. Other familiar faces like J. Cole, Pusha T and The Weeknd, have all fallen off the Billboard 200 completely this week. We'll have to see if they manage to re-enter closer to the holiday season, or if they're really done charting for good.